Nasty, Nasty Gossip and Other Stuff That's Bad for You

Friday, September 19, 2008

My heart literally skipped a beat when I saw this fixture today -- yes, I am that much of a sucker for beautiful and unusual lighting.

It was created by San Francisco designer Tracey Kessler, who was inspired by vintage construction lights that she saw at a building re-use center. Kessler's resulting industrial-chic chandelier, comprised of 14 to 16 separately wired bulbs encased in fine metal cages, is available at San Francisco's Jak Home for ... wait for it, now: $4,000.

Actually, just head over to Ikea. They now have for sale a long cable with a lamp socket on one side and a power plug on the other. I think it was "Ikea-cheap" and comes in 4 or more different colors. You can tie together half a dozen of them and just add the decorative bottles you find. Plug them all to one of those computer power strips just to keep it safe, and use low voltage lamps. Make a small wooden box and paint it the same color as ceiling. Screw box to the ceiling, and you have a good way to hide the power strip and also an elegant top finish for your "chandelier". Let us know if you decide to give it a try. IMHO, I don't think this setup requires any electrical skills :)

Design, and most things in this world, are all about stealing and copying. Everything has been done before. You just have to do it in an original and clever way, or not even... By the way, the head of the Pratt Interior Design department (rated #1 in this country) provided me with this gem of information at my first day of design school.